


        ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
        OS/2 2.x CONFIG.SYS FILE DESCRIPTION  -  Version 6.0 / July 31, 1993 - COMPILED BY RICK MEIGS
        ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
        Copyright (c) 1992-93, Rick Meigs, 7032 SW 26th Street, Portland, OR, 97219.  If you find er-
        rors or have some helpful information, please do contact me at the address above.  I also hang 
        around the FidoNet OS/2 conference, so you can drop me a note there also.
        
        <<=ENCOURAGEMENT=>>  This ASCII file may be freely distributed (AND YOU'RE ENCOURAGED TO DO SO) 
        on a not-for-profit basis, but the copyright notice may not be removed and the file may not be 
        modified.
        
        VIEWING FILE:  For best viewing, use the OS/2 System Editor with word wrap OFF and full screen.
        
        PRINTING FILE:  Print in compress print mode.
        
        CONTENTS:
        
          1.  Caution, warning and disclaimer.
          2.  Initial Comments.
          3.  CONFIG.SYS file description.
          4.  Obscure CONFIG.SYS settings.
          5.  Sample CONFIG.SYS files.
          6.  How to restore a damaged CONFIG.SYS file from a backup copy.
          7.  REXX Support from within the CONFIG.SYS file.
        
        ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
        1.  Cautions, warnings and disclaimers.
        ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
        <<=CAUTION=>>  Because of the way in which OS/2s Enhance PM Editor (EPM.EXE) handles word wrap-
        ping, using it to edit your CONFIG.SYS file is unwise.  Best results are obtained using OS/2s 
        System Editor (E.EXE).
        
        <<=WARNING=>>  IF YOU PLAN ON CHANGING ANY LINE IN YOUR CURRENT CONFIG.SYS FILE, PLEASE BE SURE 
        TO CREATE A BACKUP --BEFORE-- YOU START EXPERIMENTING!!!  THIS HAS SAVED ME MORE THAN ONCE.  
        MAKING A BACKUP COPY WILL DO YOU KNOW GOOD IF YOU DON'T KNOW HOW TO RESTORE A DAMAGED 
        CONFIG.SYS FILE WITH THE BACKUP.  I HAVE INCLUDED THE PROCEDURE AT THE END OF THIS FILE.
        
        <<=REQUIRED READING=>>  I CAN'T BE RESPONSIBLE FOR WHAT YOU DO WITH YOUR SYSTEM AND CONFIG.SYS 
        FILE BASED UPON WHAT YOU MAY LEARN FROM THE INFORMATION PROVIDED IN THIS FILE.  EVERY EFFORT 
        HAS BEEN MADE TO MAKE THIS FILE AS ACCURATE AS POSSIBLE, BUT NO WARRANTY OR FITNESS IS IMPLIED.  
        THE INFORMATION IS PROVIDED ON AN "AS IS" BASIS.
        
        ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
        2.  Initial Comments.
        ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
        This project has become something more than I had anticipated.  Now in its sixth version and 
        I'm still finding out new things about OS/2s CONFIG.SYS file.  Actually, this CONFIG.SYS FILE 
        DESCRIPTION has become as much an optimization handbook as it is a description.  I assume that 
        someday, all that can be said about the file will have been said.  At that point I'll be able 
        to sit back and just let the last update circulate <g>.
        
        Even with all the hours I've put into this CONFIG.SYS FILE DESCRIPTION, I still find it often 
        to be a mystery.  At least one attempt to "demystify" the file has been made by a major comput-
        er rag within the last year, but I found myself more "mystified" than "demystified".  Some of 
        the information share was just plain wrong.  Still, mystery or not, to get the most out of OS/2 
        and your system, you MUST spend a little time editing your CONFIG.SYS file.
        
        This whole process began 1992 when I began researching what many of the CONFIG.SYS file com-
        mands were for.  This ever growing file is the result of that ongoing research.  It briefly 
        describes many of the common and obscure commands.  Naturally, not all possible commands are 
        listed (especially the many hardware device drivers), but there is a lot here for you to work 
        with.  Version Six has been updated for OS/2 2.1.
        
        Unlike the DOS CONFIG.SYS file which is read sequentially, OS/2 reads the entire CONFIG.SYS 
        file before it invokes the commands listed.  Therefore, except for a few exceptions which have 
        been noted, it really doesn't matter where a command is placed. 
        
        ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 
        3.  BEGINNING OF CONFIG.SYS FILE DESCRIPTION
        ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
        CALL=C:\OS2\XCOPY.EXE C:\OS2\*.BK1 C:\OS2\*.BK2
        CALL=C:\OS2\XCOPY.EXE C:\OS2\*.INI C:\OS2\*.BK1
        
          Two files are essential to the operation of OS/2:  OS2.INI and OS2SYS.INI.  If these 
          files should get trashed, OS/2 isn't going to function.  Backing them up is very import-
          ant.  In OS/2 version 2.0, once booted, OS/2 will not let you access or copy these crit-
          ical files.  One way to circumvent this is to create your backups BEFORE OS/2 is booted.  
          This CALL will do the trick.  It creates first a backup of your backup and then creates 
          a backup of the original files.  This gives you a two generation backup.
        
          <<=NOTE=>>  In version 2.1, the INI files can be copied using the normal OS/2 COPY com-
          mand, but you may wish to consider adding this CALL to your CONFIG.SYS file to automate 
          the process.
        
          Generally OS/2 does not care where you place something in the CONFIG.SYS file.  This 
          CALL is an exception in version 2.0.  It must appear are the first line as shown here 
          because you need to complete this backup process before OS2.INI AND OS2SYS.INI load.
        
          <<=TIP=>>  OS2.INI and OS2SYS.INI can also be reconstructed at boot by holding down Alt-
          F1 during boot BEFORE the OS/2 logo appears.  You may need to hold the keys down for at 
          least 20 seconds.  During your initial installation of OS/2, the installation process 
          stored a copy of its original INI files in the folder called INSTALL.  When you press 
          Alt-F1 at boot, OS/2 moves these "backup" files into the OS/2 folder to replace the cur-
          rent versions.
        
          <<=WARNING=>>  Use the Alt-F1 key combination as a last resort because you will lose all 
          customization and changes you have made to the WpS.
        
          <<=TIP=>>  Add the following additional line, CALL=C:\OS2\XCOPY.EXE C:\OS2\*.BK2 
          C:\OS2\INSTALL\*.INI, before the first CALL above.  This will replace the INI files in 
          the INSTALL folder with a more recent version.  So when you have to use Alt-F1, you'll 
          reboot without losing most of your customization to your WpS.
        
        IFS=C:\OS2\HPFS.IFS /CACHE:512 /CRECL:4 /AUTOCHECK:C
        
          This OS/2 command installs the High Performance File System (HPFS), if you want to use 
          it instead of FAT.  The syntax is IFS=DRIVE:PATH\FILENAME,SWITCHES.  There are three 
          switches:  
        
             /CACHE:nnn sets up a disk cache and its size.  The default on my 8MB system (shown 
                in the table below) is to low in my opinion.  If you have 8MB of RAM, set the 
                cache to 512, but keep in mind that you don't want an excessive cache because 
                the memory used comes directly out of memory available for programs, e.g. if 
                you set a 2MB cache on a 6MB system, you will notice a substantial negative 
                performance hit.  It is my understanding that the maximum cache size for HPFS 
                is currently 2MB and IBM does not recommend using a cache larger than 1.5MB;
        
                If you have formatted your system with only HPFS partitions, the default cache 
                size in this statement will be that noted under ONE FILE SYSTEM in the table 
                below.  If you have both FAT and HPFS partitions, then OS/2 2.x defaults to 
                the cache size noted under TWO FILE SYSTEM.  The file system which uses the 
                greatest amount of your disk space gets the larger default value.
        
                    MEMORY SIZE IN MB       TWO FILE SYSTEM         ONE FILE SYSTEM    
                            4                    128/64                   128          
                            5                    128/64                   128          
                            6                    256/64                   256          
                            7                   256/128                   256          
                            8                   256/256                   384          
                            9                   256/256                   384          
                         10 - 16                512/512                  1024          
                         17 - 32               1024/1024                 2048          
        
             /CRECL sets the maximum record size for caching, from 2k to 64k in multiples of 2k; 
                and,
        
             /AUTOCHECK:nn tells the system to run CHKDSK and sets the drives to be checked at 
                startup.
        
          IFS stands for "Installable File System".
        
          <<=TIP=>>  If you are using only FAT partitions, then you should REM this statement and 
          save yourself about 500k of RAM.
        
          <<=TIP=>>  If you have drive partitions larger than 80 or so megabytes, then HPFS will 
          give you better performance than FAT.  On partitions of less than 80MB, their is little 
          or no performance difference between HPFS and FAT.
        
        PAUSEONERROR=YES
        
          This OS/2 only command tells OS/2 to stop for a moment if it cannot process a line in 
          the CONFIG.SYS file correctly.  If you don't include this statement in your CONFIG.SYS 
          file, the default will be YES.  It is generally the best choice since an error message 
          will appear and scroll off the screen so quickly with a NO setting that you may not no-
          tice it or be able to read it.
        
        PROTSHELL=C:\OS2\PMSHELL.EXE
        
          This OS/2 command loads OS/2s user interface program (PMSHELL.EXE) which allows you to 
          make full-screen and window sessions work.  The current interface program is the Work-
          place Shell (WpS), but in theory you could purchase or develop your own user interface 
          and use it instead of the WpS, much like Norton's Desktop is available for the Windows 
          environment.  If you delete this line from your CONFIG.SYS file, OS/2 will load CMD.EXE 
          by default.
        
        SET COMMAND:  The SET command in the CONFIG.SYS file sets up environment variables for the en-
        tire system.  These environmental variables are stored by OS/2 in memory and are shared by any 
        applications which calls on them.  There are a number of these "enviornment variables" covered 
        below.  
        
        <<=NOTE=>>  These variables can also generally be changed at an OS/2 command prompt.
        
        <<=TIP=>>  If you want to see what varibles are set in your system, at an OS/2 command prompt 
        type the word SET and press return.  You'll get a list like the following:
        
          WP_OBJHANDLE=87103
          USER_INI=C:\OS2\OS2.INI
          SYSTEM_INI=C:\OS2\OS2SYS.INI
          OS2_SHELL=C:\OS2\CMD.EXE
          AUTOSTART=PROGRAMS,TASKLIST,FOLDERS
          RUNWORKPLACE=C:\OS2\PMSHELL.EXE
          COMSPEC=C:\OS2\CMD.EXE
          PATH=C:\OS2;C:\OS2\SYSTEM;C:\OS2\MDOS\WINOS2;C:\OS2\INSTALL;C:\;C:\OS2\MDOS;
          DPATH=C:\OS2;C:\OS2\SYSTEM;C:\OS2\MDOS\WINOS2;C:\OS2\INSTALL;C:\;C:\OS2\BITMAP;
          PROMPT=$E[1;33m[$P]$G
          HELP=C:\OS2\HELP;C:\OS2\HELP\TUTORIAL;
          GLOSSARY=C:\OS2\HELP\GLOSS;
          DIRCMD=/ON /P
          IPF_KEYS=SBCS
          KEYS=OFF
          BOOKSHELF=C:\OS2\BOOK
          EPMPATH=C:\OS2\APPS;
          VIDEO_DEVICES=VIO_SVGA
          VIO_SVGA=DEVICE(BVHVGA,BVHSVGA)
          WORKPLACE__PROCESS=NO
        
        SET USER_INI=C:\OS2\OS2.INI
        
          Tells OS/2 the name and locations of the file that contains your desktop setup informa-
          tion and the options saved from various OS/2 applications.  OS2.INI is the default file 
          name.  
        
          This file remains open the entire time OS/2 is booted and operating.  It only closes 
          upon Shutdown.  If it should become "trashed", MAKEINI.EXE, which ships with OS/2 and is 
          in the OS2 directory, can be used to build a new set of INI xfiles.  You will have to 
          boot from an OS/2 floppy to do so.
        
          <<=NOTE=>>  OS2.INI is a critical file for the proper operation of OS/2 and should not 
          be deleted or modified.  It is not an ASCII file and therefore cannot be modified with 
          an ASCII editor if it should become damaged.  You should consider backing up this file 
          by using the CALL lines shown above or with a program such as WPSBKUP, a shareware pro-
          gram you can obtain on many OS/2 BBSs.
        
        SET SYSTEM_INI=C:\OS2\OS2SYS.INI
        
          Tells OS/2 the name and location of its INI file (OS2SYS.INI).  OS2SYS.INI tells OS/2 
          what kind of equipment your system uses.  NOTE:  OS2SYS.INI is a critical files and 
          should not be deleted or modified.  It is not an ASCII file and can't be edited.  You 
          should consider backing up this file by using the CALL line shown as the first line 
          above or with a program such as WPSBKUP, a shareware program you can obtain on many OS/2 
          BBSs.

          This file remains open the entire time OS/2 is booted and operating.  It only closes 
          upon Shutdown.  If it should become "trashed", MAKEINI.EXE, which ships with OS/2 and is 
          in the OS2 directory, can be used to build a new set of INI files.  You will have to 
          boot from an OS/2 floppy to do so.
        
        SET OS2_SHELL=C:\OS2\CMD.EXE
        
          OS2_SHELL directs OS/2 to load the command-line shell (CMD.EXE) when you ask for an OS/2 
          command line from the WpS.  
        
          <<=WARNING=>>  Be careful with this line.  OS/2 will not start without it.
        
          <<=TIP=>>  If you wish to run some other command-line shell, such as 4OS2, change this 
          line and the SET COMSPEC=C:\OS2\CMD.EXE line, substituting the appropriate EXE file for 
          CMD.EXE.
        
        SET AUTOSTART=PROGRAMS,TASKLIST,FOLDERS
        
          This command is used to start parts of the OS/2 WpS.  There is one other parameter:  
          CONNECTIONS.  This starts any network connection in use when the system was last shut-
          down.
        
          <<=WARNING=>>  If you remove any of these statements, then you may not get OS/2 to re-
          spond or you will be restricted from accessing portions of the shell.  For example, if 
          you leave out FOLDERS, Folders, including the Desktop which is also a folder, can not be 
          opened.  If you delete TASKLIST, then you will not obtain the OS/2 TASKLIST when you 
          press Ctrl-Esc and if PROGRAMS is in included, only programs in your startup folder will 
          be available.
        
        SET RUNWORKPLACE=C:\OS2\PMSHELL.EXE
        
          This line tells the system what interface program is to be used.  In this case it is the 
          Workplace Shell.  I'm not aware of any other options at this time.
        
          <<=TIP=>>  If you want to run OS/2 with only a command line interface, you can do so by 
          changing this line to read SET RUNWORKPLACE=C:\OS2\CMD.EXE.  This brings OS/2 up without 
          the WpS and gives you one full screen session.  Without the WpS, you lose much of OS/2s 
          functionality, but you can start other sessions using the START or DETACH command.  
          Switch between session using Alt+Esc.  For those who want the power of OS/2 and like to 
          work only from a command line, give this a try.
        
        SET RESTARTOBJECTS=YES
        
          This command tells OS/2 what applications to start after you suspend operations with or 
          without doing a Shutdown (as in doing a Ctrl-Alt-Del because some faulty program has 
          locked up your system).  If this statement is not in your CONFIG.SYS, then the default 
          is YES, i.e., start all objects that were running at the time of Shutdown or reboot.  
          Other options are:
        
             NO = do not start any applications that were running at time of shutdown or reboot.  
        
             STARTUPFOLDERSONLY = start objects only in the Startup folder.  This parameter is 
                also handy for another purpose.  If you have one or more programs in the Star-
                tup folder and do a shutdown without closing the programs (i.e. left the pro-
                grams open at shutdown), then reboot, OS/2 will restart the programs left open 
                AND the Startup folder will start another copy.  Thus you will have two copies 
                running.  Setting this parameter eliminates this.
        
             REBOOTONLY = Start objects only if the OS/2 WpS is starting from a reboot 
                (Ctrl-Alt-Del) or at power on.  Objects will not restart if the WpS is re-
                started as a result of its own error correction recycling.
        
          <<=TIP=>>  You can also circumvent the auto-starting of programs by holding down Ctrl-
          Shift-F1 all at the same time during boot.  It must be done AFTER your mouse pointer is 
          seem (but not to soon after it appears), but before any icons appear.
        
        SET COMSPEC=C:\OS2\CMD.EXE
        
          This line identifies what OS/2 command-line shell is to be used and where its at.  In 
          DOS, COMMAND.COM is equivalent to CMD.EXE.
        
          <<=TIP=>>  If you wish to run some other command-line shell, such as 4OS2, change this 
          and the SET OS2_SHELL=C:\OS2\CMD.EXE line, substituting the appropriate EXE file for 
          CMD.EXE.
        
        LIBPATH=.;C:\OS2\DLL;C:\OS2\MDOS;C:\;C:\OS2\APPS\DLL;
        
          This is an OS/2 command.  It tells OS/2 where to locate Dynamic Link Libraries (DLLs).  
          LIBPATH is similar to DPATH and PATH, but the statement can only be used in the 
          CONFIG.SYS file and OS/2 does not search the current directory for DLLs unless you in-
          clude it in the LIBPATH statement.  To have OS/2 search the current directory, include a 
          period "." right after the equal "=" symbol as noted above.  You don't need to use the 
          SET command with LIBPATH, it is not an environment variable.
        
        SET PATH=C:\OS2;C:\OS2\SYSTEM;C:\OS2\MDOS\WINOS2;C:\OS2\INSTALL;C:\;C:\OS2\MDOS;
           C:\OS2\APPS;
        
          Just like in DOS, it tells both DOS and OS/2 where to find programs.  
        
        SET DPATH=C:\OS2;C:\OS2\SYSTEM;C:\OS2\MDOS\WINOS2;C:\OS2\INSTALL;C:\;C:\OS2\MDOS;
           C:\OS2\APPS;
        
          This is an OS/2 command.  It tells OS/2 programs where to look for data files.  It is 
          similar to the DOS APPEND command, but unlike APPEND, DPATH only works with programs 
          designed to use it.
        
        SET PROMPT=[$P]$G
        
          Like the same DOS command, this line sets how your OS/2 command prompt will appear.  
          (This is for OS/2 only.  Set the DOS PROMPT default in your AUTOEXEC.BAT file.)  In the 
          setting shown here, the command prompt will appear showing the current directory of the 
          default drive enclosed in [] followed by the greater than symbol, i.e. [C:\]>.  Having 
          brackets [] around the drive and directory information lets you quickly know when you 
          are at an OS/2 command line verse a DOS command line.  
        
          If you type PROMPT without a parameter, OS/2 will return its default prompt [$p].
        
          Options include:
        
             $B = The   character
             $C = The open parenthesis (
             $D = Current date
             $E = ASCII code 27 (escape) so you can work with ANSI.  See <<=TIP=>> below.
             $F = The close parenthesis )
             $G = The "greater than" > symbol
             $H = BACKSPACE over the previous character
             $I = Turns help line on
             $L = The "less than" < character
             $N = Default drive
             $P = Current directory of default drive
             $Q = The equal = character
             $S = The space character
             $T = Current time
             $V = OS/2 version number
             $_ = Carriage return or line feed
        
          <<=TIP=>>  You can also add ANSI control sequences to your prompt.  For example, to help 
          me know visually whether I'm working with an OS/2 command line, I've add $E[1;33m to my 
          prompt line, i.e. SET PROMPT=$E[1;33m[$P]$G.  This sets text to display in bold yellow 
          characters.  Bold yellow characters means OS/2 command line.  White characters means DOS 
          command line.
        
        SET HELP=C:\OS2\HELP;C:\OS2\HELP\TUTORIAL;
        
          Tells OS/2 where the help files are located.  OS/2 will only look for a program's help 
          files in the path shown.
        
        SET GLOSSARY=C:\OS2\HELP\GLOSS;
        
          Tells OS/2 where the Glossary file and Master Help file is located.
        
        SET DIRCMD=/ON /P
        
          This undocumented command is the OS/2 equivalent of the DIR command in DOS.  Since DOS 
          5, you can tell DIR how to present file information.  To do this in OS/2, use the DIRCMD 
          command.  For example:  SET DIRCMD=/ON /P tells OS/2 to display the DIR information in 
          alpha order and place a pause at the end of each page.
        
          This is for OS/2 only.  Set the DOS default in your AUTOEXEC.BAT file.
        
             Options include:
        
             /A list files with specific attributes.  E.g. /AH list only hidden files.  Other 
                options are S A & R.  If you place a negative (-) sign in front of your speci-
                fied attribute, all files will list except those with the attribute specified.  
                E.g. /A-H-S will display all files except hidden and system files.
             /B list directories and files without heading and summary information.
             /F list files with the full drive and path information.  Date, time and size are 
                omitted.
             /L displays information in lowercase.
             /N lists files on a FAT drive in the same format used for a HPFS drive, i.e. date, 
                time, size, name.
             /O list files according to sort option specified.  Sort options are:
                 G = Display directories first.
                 N = alphabetize by file name
                -N = reverse-alphabetizes by name
                 E = alphabetize by extension
                -E = reverse-alphabetizes by extension
                 D = by date, oldest first
                -D = by date, newest first
                 S = by file size, smallest first
                -S = by file size, largest first
             /P pauses after a full screen of files is listed.
             /R displays long file names if applicable.
             /S searches and displays all directories.
             /W displays file names across the screen.  Date, time and size are omitted.
        
        SET IPF_KEYS=SBCS
        
          The character set for most languages can be represented as data using an 8-bit byte sin-
          ce their characters sets are each less than 256 characters.  These are Single Byte Char-
          acter Sets (SBCS).  Languages such as Japanese, Korean and Chinese can only be repre-
          sented as data using two 8-bit bytes or 16-bits.  These are Double Byte Character Sets 
          (DBCS).
        
          This command tells the Information Presentation Facility (INF and help files) which type 
          of character set is being used, i.e., Single or Double Byte Character Set.  This is an 
          Environment variable.  Removing it from my system did not seem to have any impact.
        
        PRIORITY_DISK_IO=YES
        
          This command determines whether applications running in the foreground have priority 
          access to disks.  The default is YES.  If you want applications running in the back-
          ground to have equal access to your disks, then change this statement to NO.
        
        PRIORITY=DYNAMIC
        
          OS/2 automatically assigns processing priorities to each thread of a program as it be-
          gins processing.  A thread running in the foreground will generally have priority over a 
          thread running in background.  Thread priorities are adjusted, generally based upon how 
          active they are, by OS/2 on an ongoing basis to make sure each thread has adequate pro-
          cessing time.  On the rare occasion that you need to run a program which must never 
          change in priority, you should set PRIORITY=ABSOLUTE, otherwise, don't mess with it.
        
          This is another OS/2 only command and does not have to be in your CONFIG.SYS.  If it is 
          not, then OS/2 defaults to PRIORITY=DYNAMIC.
        
        FILES=20
        
          This is a standard DOS command which sets the maximum number of files that DOS can ac-
          cess at the same time.  OS/2 sets the default at 20, but some DOS programs may require 
          that you increase this number.
        
        DEVICE=C:\OS2\TESTCFG.SYS
        
          TESTCFG.SYS is used during the install process to test your systems configuration.  It 
          is also used by the Selective Install process and during device driver installations.  
        
          <<=NOTE=>>  Because this driver is also used by the Selective Install process, you 
          should not be deleted.
        
        DEVICE=C:\OS2\PMDD.SYS
        
          OS/2 loads and uses this driver to provide pointer draw support along with POINTDD.SYS.
        
          <<=WARNING=>>  OS/2 will not start without this line in your CONFIG.SYS file.
        
        BUFFERS=30
        
          Tells OS/2 how many disk buffers to set aside.  Range is from 1 to 100.  Each buffer 
          takes up to 512 bytes of RAM.  30 is the default and usually works well.
        
          Disk buffers are blocks of memory set aside by OS/2 for use in reading and writing 
          blocks of data.  For example, if a program wants to change 80 bytes of a file, it needs 
          to read the 512 byte sector that contains the original data, change the information and 
          then write the corrected 512 byte sector back out.  A "buffer" is the 512 byte temporary 
          staging area for this partial sector operation.  According to source at IBM, "OS/2 al-
          lows multiple simultaneous I/O operations to be queued up for both diskette and hard 
          disk.  Each 'concurrent' operation may need a buffer.  If there are not enough buffers, 
          overlap can be inhibited.  Because OS/2 has more 'simultaneous' queued I/O than DOS, it 
          needs more buffers."  
        
          <<=TIP=>>  Generally, you can speed up your system by increasing the number of BUFFERS.  
          But, keep in mind that as you increase the number, you reduce available memory.  30 is 
          the default, but you may wish to experiment with a higher number, like 50 or 60.  Be 
          careful about using a lower number unless you only have 4MB of RAM.  With 4MB of RAM you 
          may wish to set BUFFERS to 20.  This gives you some more valuable memory.
        
        IOPL=YES
        
          An OS/2 command that, when set to YES, lets programs that need to bypass OS/2, and its 
          device drivers, and work directly with hardware devices, do so.  YES means that all pro-
          grams can access the hardware directly.  NO means that no program can access the hard-
          ware directly.  You can also specify a list of programs that are allowed to work direct-
          ly with the hardware.  For example, IOPL=WS.EXE,Q.EXE would allow only these two pro-
          grams to access hardware directly.  YES is the default and is generally best, since its 
          hard for most of us to know when a program is written is such a way as to need direct 
          access to hardware, rather than working through a device driver.
        
          IOPL stands for Input/Output Privilege Level.
        
        RUN=C:\OS2\CACHE.EXE /MAXAGE:2500
        
          This line runs CACHE.EXE which allows you to modify the parameters for the HPFS cache.  
          CACHE.EXE is only used for HPFS partitions.  (The next CONFIG.SYS file line below sets 
          up a cache for FAT.)  There are four switches:
        
             /LAZY:   Determines if lazy writes is ON of OFF, that is, whether the contents of 
                the cache will be written to your hard disk immediately (/LAZY:OFF) or when 
                your hard disk is idle (/LAZY:ON).  The default is ON.  I like lazy writes ON 
                because it improves performance, but keep in mind that since the system delays 
                writing data to your hard disk, you can lose data if your system should crash.  
                In the CONFIG.SYS file line above no switch is specified therefore the default 
                remains in effect, which is ON.  
        
                <<=TIP=>>  Lazywrite can also be turned ON or OFF at an OS/2 command prompt.
        
                <<=WARNING=>>  If you include the /LAZY switch, then the CACHE statement will 
                IGNORE ALL OTHER SWITCHES in the line.  Therefore, if you want to turn Lazy-
                write off (or on) and also change some other parameter, you will need two RUN 
                statements.
        
             /MAXAGE:  Sets how long data waits in the cache before it is moved to another area 
                of the cache where less used information is stored, or how long data waits in 
                the cache before it is written to the hard disk.  It is expressed in millisec-
                onds.  The default is 5,000 or about 5 seconds.  In the CONFIG.SYS file line 
                above, the wait is set at 2,500 milliseconds or about two 1 seconds.  I've 
                done this to reduce the chance of data loss.
        
             /DISKIDLE:  Sets how long your hard disk must be idle before it will accept data 
                from the cache.  Express in milliseconds and the default is 1,000 or about one 
                second.  In the CONFIG.SYS file line above no switch is specified therefore it 
                defaults remains in effect.
        
             /BUFFERIDLE:  Sets how long the cache buffer must be idle before its contents MUST 
                be written to your hard disk.  Express in milliseconds and the default is 500 
                or about 1 second.  In the CONFIG.SYS file line above no switch is specified 
                therefore it defaults remains in effect.
        
          <<=NOTE=>>  The HPFS IFS CONFIG.SYS file line sets up the cache and uses the system de-
          faults.  This CONFIG.SYS file line is only used to modify the cache parameters.  
        
          <<=TIP=>>  You can check to see what parameters the HPFS cache is currently set at by 
          going to an OS/2 command prompt and keying in the word CACHE and pressing the enter key.
        
        DISKCACHE=256,LW,32,AC:C
        
          If you are using FAT file system, this command sets up a RAM disk cache.  
        
          CACHE:  The DISKCACHE line noted here sets up a 256k cache.    The default cache size is 
          based upon your RAM.  See the table below.  If you have the RAM, increase the size to 
          improve system performance, but don't get carried away in using to much of your RAM.  
          This will hurt performance and cause to much memory swapping to disk.  
        
          If you have formatted your system with only FAT partitions, the default cache size in 
          this statement will be that noted under ONE FILE SYSTEM in the table below.  If you have 
          both FAT and HPFS partitions, then OS/2 2.x defaults to the cache size noted under TWO 
          FILE SYSTEM.  The file system which uses the greatest amount of your disk space gets the 
          larger default value.  
        
              MEMORY SIZE IN MB       TWO FILE SYSTEM         ONE FILE SYSTEM    
                      4                    128/64                   128          
                      5                    128/64                   128          
                      6                    256/64                   256          
                      7                   256/128                   256          
                      8                   256/256                   384          
                      9                   256/256                   384          
                   10 - 16                512/512                  1024          
                   17 - 32               1024/1024                 2048          
        
          LW:  Enables lazy writes.  If you don't want lazy write enabled, then remove ",LW".
        
          32:  The third number set the threshold size.  It is express in number of sectors which 
          are 512 bytes each.  Data requests from your disk that are larger than this number will 
          not be cached.  The default is 4.  Thirty two (32) is said to be an optimum number.  One 
          hundred twenty eight (128) is the maximum allowable.  This setting has no impact on RAM.
        
          AC:C:  If you want CHKDSK to automatically check your startup partition (usually C), 
          then add this switch to end of the DISKCACHE command:  AC:n where n is your startup par-
          tition, e.g. AC:C.
        
          <<=TIP=>>  If you are only using HPFS, then you should REM this statement (don't delete, 
          you may need or want it later) and save some RAM.
        
        MAXWAIT=3
        
          This OS/2 command sets the longest period a program will have to wait to execute before 
          OS/2 ups its priority.  This makes sure that no program is put on hold forever while 
          some other program hogs the system.  You can set MAXWAIT from 1 to 255 seconds.  The 
          default is 3 seconds.  
        
          <<=TIP=>>  When running heavy background programs, such as a BBS, change the setting to 
          1, i.e. MAXWAIT=1.  This will keep the BBS software or other background programs running 
          at top speed.  For general use, it appears that setting MAXWAIT=2 makes the system a 
          little livelier.
        
        MEMMAN=SWAP,PROTECT
        
          OS/2 can run more programs and use more data than can actually be stored in memory at 
          any given time.  This is done by swapping large amounts of memory to your hard disk and 
          then reading the data back into memory when needed.  This is called virtual memory.  For 
          example, if you only have 4MB of memory (Get MORE memory fast!  You need 8MB minimum 
          with OS/2 2.x.) you will see lots of disk activity while you are working with your sys-
          tem.  A lot of this is OS/2 swapping memory to your hard disk.  Lots of memory swapping 
          will slow down your system and cause your hard disk to fragment quicker than normal.
        
          The MEMMAN command controls the swap process.  The syntax is MEMMAN=s,m,PROTECT where 
          s=SWAP or NOSWAP; m=MOVE or NOMOVE; and PROTECT, which allows memory compaction with 
          protected dynamic link libraries.  The default is to have virtual memory on.  To turn 
          off virtual memory, which is NOT recommended, the CONFIG.SYS file line should read:  
          MEMMAN=NOSWAP.  
        
          A new parameter with version 2.1 is COMMIT.  With this parameter included, OS/2 will 
          allocate space in the swap file whenever a program commits memory.  Increase your SWAP-
          PER.DAT file (in the SWAPPATH line below) by the amount of memory you are likely to use 
          when using the COMMIT parameter.
        
          <<=CAUTION=>>  When messing with this line (I mean experimenting) I changed it to MEM-
          MAN=NOSWAP.  As a result, I had to boot from my OS/2 Installation disk and recover my 
          backup CONFIG.SYS file to get the system to boot.  I don't know why, but use caution.
        
          <<=NOTE=>>  The MOVE/NOMOVE parameter has no effect under OS/2 2.x and is only provided 
          for OS/2 version 1.x compatibility.
        
        SWAPPATH=C:\OS2\SYSTEM 512 4096
        
          OS/2 can allocate more memory than it actually has available.  It does this by swapping 
          memory to a hard disk file called SWAPPER.DAT.
        
          The syntax is SWAPPATH=DRIVE,PATH,mmm,nnn where DRIVE AND PATH is the location where you 
          want the SWAPPER.DAT file to be placed; mmm is a number from 512 to 32767 and specifies 
          how large the SWAPPER.DAT file can grow before it stops consuming hard disk space.  The 
          size is stated in the negative.  In other words, if you have the mmm set to 512, then 
          the SWAPPER.DAT file can grow until there is only 512k left on your hard disk.  The 
          variable nnn is the starting size of the SWAPPER.DAT file.  In the CONFIG.SYS file line 
          above, the starting size is 4096 or 4MB.
        
          The default SWAPPER.DAT size is set based upon the amount of RAM your system has avail-
          able as shown in the table below.
        
             MEMORY IN MB       MINFREE (KB)       INITIAL SIZE (KB)    
                   4                4096                  6144          
                   5                4096                  5120          
                   6                4096                  5120          
                   7                2048                  4096          
                   8                2048                  4096          
                   9                2048                  3072          
                  10                2048                  3072          
               11 - 32              2048                  2048          
        
          <<=TIP=>>  Normal operation of OS/2 2.x involves considerable disk activity as operating 
          system functions are loaded and pages are moved in and out of the swap file.  To improve 
          performance, consider dedicating a separate partition for the swap file next to the op-
          erating system partition.  This helps avoid fragmentation of the swap file, because oth-
          er files will not be added or deleted from the dedicated partition.  Disk access time 
          will be minimized.
        
        BREAK=OFF
        
          For DOS programs only.  Many DOS programs can be stopped by holding down the Ctrl key 
          and then pressing the Break key.  BREAK controls how quickly DOS programs stop when you 
          interrupt them with the Ctrl-Break sequence.  If BREAK=OFF, DOS will stop the program 
          only when the programs next reads a character from the keyboard or writes to the screen 
          or printer.  With BREAK=ON, DOS will check for the Ctrl-Break on a more frequent basis.  
          Remember that this extra checking can make your DOS programs run slower.
        
        THREADS=256
        
          OS/2 programs can have several different processes running at the same time.  These are 
          called threads.  This OS/2 command sets the maximum number of threads, from 32 to 4095, 
          that OS/2 can run at the same time.
        
          <<=TIP=>>  On systems with only 4MB of RAM, set THREADS to 128 to free up memory.  If 
          you only have 4MB of RAM, get more fast.  You'll be amazed at the difference another 4 
          or 8MB of RAM will make!
        
          <<=TIP=>>  If you have more than 8MB of RAM and run mostly OS/2 specific programs, you 
          should be able to improve system responsiveness by increasing the number of threads.  
          Why?  Because well written OS/2 programs will use threads to improve program perfor-
          mance.  Therefore, the more OS/2 programs in use, the more threads that could be needed.
        
        PRINTMONBUFSIZE=134,134,134
        
          This OS/2 command sets the size of the print buffers for your parallel ports.  The syn-
          tax is PRINTMONBUFSIZE=LPT1,LPT2,LPT3 where LPT1 is the buffer size for the parallel 
          port LPT1, LPT2 is the buffer size for LPT2 and LPT3 is the buffer size for LPT3.  The 
          default and minimum is 134 bytes and the maximum is 2048 bytes.
        
          <<=TIP=>>  If you are not using LPT2 or LPT3, then do not set up a buffer for them and 
          use these bytes to increase the buffer for LPT1 (PRINTMONBUFSIZE=402,0,0) which should 
          improve printing speed.  
        
          <<=Note=>> You still need to define a buffer for LPT2 and LPT3, but you indicate a "0" 
          (zero) byte size.  You will get an error message at startup if you don't.
        
          <<=TIP=>>  On systems with only 4MB of RAM that are not using LPT2 or LPT3, leave LPT1 
          at 134 and reduce LPT2 and LPT3 to "0" (zero).  This will free up a little memory.
        
        COUNTRY=001,C:\OS2\SYSTEM\COUNTRY.SYS
        
          Customizes your system for the country you wish to use.  It establishes which defaults 
          to use when it comes to decimal separators, date and time formats, currency symbols, 
          etc.  The syntax is COUNTRY=xxx,PATH,FILE NAME.  xxx is a three-digit code number that 
          tells what country to use.  The number is usually (but not always) the same as the in-
          ternational telephone dialing prefix for the country desired.  The table below contains 
          various country codes.
        
            COUNTRY                  COUNTRY CODE   
            Arabic-speaking          785            
            Asia (English)           099            
            Australia (English)      061            
            Belgium                  032            
            Canada (French)          002            
            China                    088            
            Czechoslovakia           042            
            Denmark                  045            
            Finland                  358            
            France                   033            
            Germany                  049            
            Hebrew-speaking          972            
            Hungary                  036            
            Iceland                  354            
            Italy                    039            
            Japan                    081            
            Korea                    082            
            Latin America            003            
            Netherlands              031            
            Norway                   047            
            Poland                   048            
            Portugal                 351            
            Spain                    034            
            Sweden                   046            
            Switzerland              041            
            Taiwan                   088            
            Turkey                   090            
            United Kingdom           044            
            United States            001            
            Yugoslavia               038            
        
        SET KEYS=OFF
        
          When using the Command-line, KEYS tells CMD.EXE whether to remember previous keystrokes 
          so they can be recalled with the up arrow key.  OS/2 maintains a 64k buffer for storing 
          keystroke history.  KEYS can be ON or OFF.
        
          <<=TIP=>>  On systems with only 4MB of RAM, SET KEYS to OFF, you need the memory more 
          than this feature.  Even with 8MB of RAM, since I don't use the feature I have turned it 
          off to get a small memory boost.
        
        REM SET DELDIR=C:\DELETE,512;
        
          To use OS/2s UNDELETE command, you must first establish a directory in which to store 
          the deleted files.  To do this, create a directory called DELETE in your root and then 
          remove the "REM" from this CONFIG.SYS file line.  
        
          This command points OS/2 to the directory you created to place deleted files in.  It 
          also indicates the maximum number of files that will be stored in the DELETE directory.  
          If the number of deleted files exceeds the maximum number that you specified, then files 
          are automatically removed from the directory on a first-in-first-out basis.
        
        BASEDEV=PRINT01.SYS
        BASEDEV=IBM1FLPY.ADD
        BASEDEV=IBM1S506.ADD
        BASEDEV=OS2DASD.DMD
        
          BASEDEV installs a base device driver used by OS/2 when it is first started.  The state-
          ment cannot contain either a drive or path because OS/2 cannot process such information 
          at the stage at which these statements are process.  Other base device drivers include:
        
          PRINT01.SYS supports attached printers on non-Micro Channel PC's.
          PRINT02.SYS supports attached printers on Micro Channel PC's.
          IBM1FLPY.ADD supports diskette drives on non-Micro Channel PC's.
          IBM2FLPY.ADD supports diskette drives on Micro Channel PC's.
          IBM2SCSI.ADD supports SCSI disk drives on Micro Channel PC's.
          OS2SCSI.DMD supports non-disk SCSI devices.
          IBM1S506.ADD supports non-SCSI disk drives on non-Micro Channel PC's.
          OS2DASD.DMD is a general purpose driver for disk drives.
          IBM2ADSK.ADD supports non-SCSI disk drives on Micro Channel PC's.
          IBMINT13.I13 supports non-Micro Channel SCSI adapters.
        
        SET BOOKSHELF=C:\GAMMA32;C:\OS2\BOOK
        
          This command points to the on-line documentation (INF files) provided with OS/2 and to 
          any on-line documentation provided by other OS/2 programs.  I have the GAMMATECH utili-
          ties installed on my system which contains on-line documentation. 
        
        SET EPMPATH=C:\OS2\APPS
        
          Replaced SET EPATH=C:\OS2\APPS; in version 2.0.  According to one source in IBM, EPMPATH 
          is used by the Enhanced Editor (EPM.EXE).
        
        REM DEVICE=C:\OS2\APPS\SASYNCDB.SYS
        
          This device driver loads asynchronous communications support for the PM Terminal applet.  
        
          <<=TIP=>>  If you don't use PM Terminal, REM this line to save a little memory.  In 
          fact, if you are not using PM Terminal you may wish to consider deleting the files to 
          save some disk space also.
        
        PROTECTONLY=NO
        
          An OS/2 command.  Allows you to choose between a shared DOS and OS/2 operating environ-
          ment or just an OS/2 environment.  If you plan to run only OS/2 programs, then set PRO-
          TECTONLY=YES.  If you plan to run DOS programs (this includes Windows programs also), 
          then set PROTECTONLY=NO.
        
        SHELL=C:\OS2\MDOS\COMMAND.COM C:\OS2\MDOS /P
        
          This line identifies and loads the DOS command processor COMMAND.COM which you must have 
          to make DOS sessions work.  The /p switch keeps the command processor in memory until 
          shutdown.
        
          This is the line where you can also specify the size of the DOS environment variable.  
          The range is 160 through 32768.  For example, to set a 1024 byte environment you would 
          add the following to the end of the SHELL command line:  /E:1024
        
          <<=TIP=>>  You can also load and run other command processor's such as 4DOS.  To do so, 
          just put 4DOS in your MDOS directory and change the SHELL line to read 4DOS.COM instead 
          of COMMAND.COM.  
        
        FCBS=16,8
        
          A file control block (FCBS) is an outmoded record that gives information about a file to 
          DOS.  This CONFIG.SYS file line tells DOS how many FCBS can be open at once, or, when 
          DOS needs to open more FCBS than are available, how many currently open but not active 
          FCBS may be closed to make room for new ones.
        
          The syntax is FCBS=a,b where a=the number of FCBS that DOS can have open at one time and 
          b=the number of FCBS DOS cannot close to make room for new FCBS.  "a" can be as high as 
          255.  "b" can have a value of 0 to 254, but must be less than "a".  Unless you get some 
          kind of error message when running a DOS program that tells you the program doesn't have 
          enough FCBS, leave the default as set.
        
          <<=TIP=>>  You may wish to experiment with a smaller number.  If you can get by with a 
          smaller number, you will get back a little memory in each of your DOS sessions.
        
        RMSIZE=640
        
          This is a DOS command and sets the amount of memory available for use by each DOS ses-
          sion.  The maximum is 640k.  Since some DOS programs require 640k, its best to have 
          RMSIZE set to 640.
        
          <<=TIP=>>  If you only have 4MB of RAM or don't have any DOS programs that need a full 
          640k, you should consider reducing this parameter to 512.  Many DOS applications will 
          run in a 512k DOS partition.  Doing this will free up some additional RAM which will 
          help performance.
        
          <<=TIP=>>  If you need maximum memory (more than 640k), see tip under DOS=LOW,NOUMB.
        
        DEVICE=C:\OS2\MDOS\VEMM.SYS 
        
          VEMM.SYS lets DOS programs use expanded memory unless you override it by changing a DOS 
          programs SETTINGS.
        
          Three of its switches are:
        
             /S=n  Sets the limit of EMS memory in blocks of 1024k.  Default is 2.
        
             /L=n  Size of conventional memory that can be remapped.  Default is none.
        
             /F=nnnn  Memory frame address to be used to map EMS.  Default is AUTO.
        
          Settings you specify in a DOS session will override these switches.
        
          <<=NOTE=>>  The VEMM.SYS device must be listed in your CONFIG.SYS file before the 
          VXMS.SYS device.
        
        DEVICE=C:\OS2\MDOS\VMOUSE.SYS 
        
          Identifies and loads the mouse driver to let you use a mouse with DOS.  Mouse support 
          for OS/2 is loaded below.  
        
          <<=NOTE=>>  If you don't have this line (or you REM'd it), you will not have mouse sup-
          port in your DOS sessions.
        
        DOS=LOW,NOUMB
        
          This is a standard DOS command that lets you control how DOS uses memory.  The OS/2 de-
          fault is DOS=LOW,NOUMB and is considered by many to be the best setting for it conserves 
          memory for OS/2.  DOS=HIGH (including ,UMB) reduces available memory for OS/2, but in-
          creases the available memory in EVERY DOS session.  Few DOS sessions need maximum memo-
          ry.  Also remember that you can move DOS HIGH for a specific program by changing that 
          programs DOS.  This is done in the programs Settings Notebook and is likely the better 
          way to go.  Finally, keep in mind that in OS/2 many device drivers are not taking up 
          room in your 640k DOS area.  So you generally have more memory in the typical OS/2 DOS 
          session than in a standard DOS session.
        
          The following is the amount of memory my system reports in each DOS session with 
          DOS=LOW,NOUMB.  The vast majority of all DOS programs will run just fine with this 
          amount of memory.
        
            655360 bytes total memory
            655360 bytes available for DOS
            618208 largest executable program size    <---- This equals about 604k
        
          With DOS=HIGH, the amount of memory reported is:
        
            655360 bytes total memory
            655360 bytes available for DOS
            643632 largest executable program size    <---- About 629k
        
          <<=TIP=>>  If you have need for maximum available RAM in a DOS session and can get by on 
          CGA or MONO, change RMSIZE=639 (See description of this parameter three command lines 
          above) in your CONFIG.SYS file (has to be 639k due to a bug in OS/2).  Then in DOS Set-
          tings of your applications Settings Notebook, change VIDEO_MODE_RESTRICTION to CGA or 
          MONO.  The amount of memory reported after doing this on my machine is:
        
            752640 bytes total memory
            752640 bytes available for DOS
            740656 largest executable program size
        
        REM DEVICE=C:\OS2\APM.SYS
        
          Device driver for ADVANCED POWER MANAGEMENT system used with laptop systems.  If you 
          have this line in your CONFIG.SYS file and you are NOT using a laptop, REM or delete the 
          statement.  If you are using a laptop, see the OS/2 README file for more details on its 
          operation.
        
        DEVICE=C:\OS2\MDOS\VXMS.SYS /UMB
        
          VXMS.SYS is a device driver that provides Extended Memory management to DOS sessions.  
          XMS allows DOS programs to access more than one MB of memory.  You need the /UMB switch 
          at the end if you want upper memory block support in DOS sessions.
        
          <<=NOTE=>>  The VXMS.SYS device must be listed in your CONFIG.SYS file after the 
          VEMM.SYS device.
        
        DEVICE=C:\OS2\MDOS\VDPX.SYS
        
          Driver required when using VDPMI in the CONFIG.SYS file line below.  One authority said 
          that this driver "provides V86 to Protected Mode translation for DPMI memory".  Well 
          that's enough to lose me.
        
        DEVICE=C:\OS2\MDOS\VDPMI.SYS
        
          Provides "virtual" DPMI (DOS Protect Mode Interface) memory for DOS and Window sessions.  
          I don't know much about this, but I've been told not to remove it.
        
        DEVICE=C:\OS2\MDOS\VWIN.SYS
        
          Assists in the process of providing seamless Windows support.
        
        DEVICE=C:\OS2\EXTDSKDD.SYS
        
          EXTDSKDD.SYS supports external disk drives.
        
        REM DEVICE=C:\OS2\PCMCIA.SYS 
        REM DEVICE=C:\OS2\MDOS\VPCMCIA.SYS 
        
          These two drivers are new to version 2.1.  They provide support for computers that have 
          PC Memory Card International Association (PCMCIA) adapters.
        
          <<=TIP=>>  If you don't have any PCMCIA devices, then you should REM these drivers to 
          save a little RAM.
        
        REM DEVICE=C:\OS2\MDOS\VCDROM.SYS 
        
          This is a CD-ROM device driver.  
        
          <<=TIP=>>  If you don't have a CD-ROM installed, then you should REM this line to save a 
          little RAM.  Remember, the more RAM OS/2 has--up to 16MB--the better it runs.  After 
          16MB it doesn't seem to improve much, overall.
        
        REM IFS=C:\OS2\CDFS.IFS
        
          This OS/2 command is needed if you have a CD-ROM.  It installs CDFS.INF which is the 
          "Installable File System" for CD-ROMs.  Your CD-ROM is not going to run without it.
        
        DEVINFO=SCR,VGA,C:\OS2\VIOTBL.DCP
        
          This command prepares your monitor to display information based upon the CODEPAGE speci-
          fication.  VIOTBL.DCP is the file that contains the video fonts for displaying charac-
          ters for each of the CODEPAGES supported by OS/2.  See the CODEPAGE command line below.
        
        DEVICE=C:\OS2\MDOS\VVGA.SYS 
        
          Your CONFIG.SYS file will contain various device drivers for various devices based upon 
          your systems hardware configuration.  This device driver happens to be for the VGA video 
          card.
        
        DEVICE=C:\OS2\POINTDD.SYS 
        
          POINTDD.SYS is the file that contains information on what the mouse pointer looks like 
          and draws it on you screen.  
        
          <<=WARNING=>>  In order for MOUSE.SYS to work effectively, this driver must be loaded by 
          OS/2.  Do not remove it from your CONFIG.SYS file.
        
        DEVICE=C:\OS2\MOUSE.SYS SERIAL=COM1 QSIZE=10
        
          Lets you use a mouse or track ball with OS/2.  This line also identifies the type of 
          mouse you have and which COM port it is on.  QSIZE is a number from 1 to 100 which indi-
          cates how many mouse actions are to be saved when you execute mouse actions faster than 
          your system can handle them.
        
          <<=NOTE=>>  The MOUSE.SYS statement must come before the COM.SYS because COM.SYS will 
          take over any unused COM port.  If COM.SYS takes over the COM ports before MOUSE.SYS is 
          loaded, MOUSE.SYS will not have any COM ports available, thus no mouse support.
        
        DEVICE=C:\OS2\COM.SYS
        
          Lets you use the communications ports one and two (COM1 and COM2).  (If you want to use 
          COM3 or COM4 or change the IRQ of a COM point, see <<=TIP=>> below.)  This line MUST ap-
          pear after any driver that uses the communications ports.  Use COM02.SYS if you have an 
          IBM PS/2 model 90 or 95.
        
          <<=TIP=>>  There is a very good replacement driver for COM.SYS\VCOM.SYS called 
          SIO.SYS\VSIO.SYS.  It can be obtained on most OS/2 BBSs.  If you utilize a communica-
          tions packet on a regular basis at high speeds (e.g. 14,400), I recommend you consider 
          SIO.SYS.  Replace VCOM.SYS (below) with VSIO.SYS which comes with SIO.SYS.  SIO.SYS and 
          VSIO.SYS are Shareware, not Freeware.  Register them is you use them!!!
        
          <<=TIP=>>  To add support for COM3 and COM4 at location 3E8 with IRQ 4 and 2E8 with 
          IRQ 3 respectively, add (3,3E8,4) (4,2E8,3) to the DEVICE line,
          e.g. DEVICE=C:\OS2\COM.SYS (3,3E8,4) (4,2E8,3).  You can also use this method to change 
          a COM ports assigned IRQ. 
        
        DEVICE=C:\OS2\MDOS\VCOM.SYS  
        
          Lets you use the communications ports for DOS and Windows sessions.  Must appear after 
          the COM.SYS driver.  
        
          <<=NOTE=>>  If you are using COM3 and/or COM4, add the appropriate parameters to the 
          COM.SYS line above only.  It is not necessary to add any parameters to this line.  
          VCOM.SYS inherits its parameters from the COM.SYS line.
        
          <<=TIP=>>  See TIP under DEVICE=C:\OS2\COM.SYS regarding SIO.SYS.
        
        DEVICE=C:\OS2\MDOS\ANSI.SYS  
        
          This is the traditional DOS command most are familiar with.  It only affects DOS ses-
          sions.  This line is not added to your CONFIG.SYS file by default.  If you want it, you 
          need to add it.
        
          OS/2 sessions have ANSI support by default.  If you are unsure if ANSI is on or off in 
          an OS/2 session, go to an OS/2 command prompt and type ANSI.  You will get a message 
          like:  ANSI extended screen and keyboard control is on.  For an OS/2 session, turn ANSI 
          off or on by typing ANSI OFF or ANSI ON at an OS/2 command prompt.
        
        DEVICE=C:\OS2\LOG.SYS
        
          This optional device driver installs OS/2s error-log file.  If you want a log of errors 
          that occur on your system, then add this and the next line to your CONFIG.SYS file.  If 
          you are interested in such things, you may wish to play with it, but be forewarned, the 
          error log information is cryptic.  For example, only error codes are reported.  To learn 
          what these codes mean, you need to have IBMs Systems Network Architecture Formats (GA27-
          3136-12) or, for a reasonable overview, get OS/2 2.1 Unleashed, 1993, SAMS Publishing.
        
          The switch /E:<kb> sets the size of the error-log buffer.  The range is from 4kb to 64kb 
          with 8kb as the default.  I've not used this switch in the CONFIG.SYS file line above, 
          therefore the default will be used.
        
          You will get a short and quick message during boot up indicating that Logging has been 
          installed and what the buffer size is.
        
          <<=NOTE=>>  LOG.SYS has its limitations.  It will not log an application error unless 
          the application has be written to make use of LOG.SYS.  Some routine system errors will 
          not log either because OS/2 opens an error message box on screen to report these.
        
        RUN=C:\OS2\SYSTEM\LOGDAEM.EXE /E:C:\OS2\LOGFILE.DAT /W:16
        
          This RUN command states the logging process and must appear AFTER you have installed the 
          LOG.SYS driver noted in the CONFIG.SYS file line above.  The two switches are:
        
             /E:<path><filename>  This is the path and file name of the test file where the er-
                rors will be logged.  You can place it anywhere you want and call it anything 
                you wish.  NOTE:  Like the OS/2 INI files, this file is "locked" and you will 
                not be able to access it with your standard text editor or the OS/2 System 
                Editor.  You will get a "violation error".  The Enhanced Editor will open the 
                file.
        
             /W:<kb>  This is the size of the file named with the /E switch.  The default size 
                is 64k, but with this switch you can set the value from 4k to 64k.  I've set 
                the file size at 16k in the example line above.
        
          <<=NOTE=>>  Use SYSLOG.EXE from an OS/2 command line prompt to view your log file.
        
        CODEPAGE=437,850
        
          Lets you use the alphabet of various countries and languages.  The syntax is 
          CODEPAGE=ppp,sss, where ppp is the number of the primary national alphabet to be used 
          and sss is a secondary alphabet number.  437=US English alphabet and 850=multinational 
          alphabet.  The multinational alphabet contains most of the accented letters used in 
          various European languages.  Several other alphabets that can be supported by your ver-
          sion of OS/2.  See table below.  
        
          <<=WARNING=>>  Japan, Korean and Chinese require a special version of OS/2 and special 
          hardware.
        
          <<= NOTE=>>  If there is not a CODEPAGE statement in your CONFIG.SYS file, your key-
          board will use an alphabet based on the COUNTRY statement found earlier in your 
          CONFIG.SYS file, but your screen and printer will use their built-in defaults.
        
            COUNTRY                  PRIMARY      SECONDARY   
                                     CODE PAGE    CODE PAGE   
            Arabic-speaking          864          850         
            Asia (English)           437          850         
            Australia (English)      437          850         
            Belgium                  850          437         
            Canada (French)          863          850         
            Czechoslovakia           852          850         
            Denmark                  850          n/a         
            Finland                  850          437         
            France                   437          850         
            Germany                  850          437         
            Hebrew-speaking          862          850         
            Hungary                  852          850         
            Iceland                  850          861         
            Italy                    437          850         
            Japan                    932          437, 850    
            Korea                    934          437, 850    
            Latin America            437          850         
            Netherlands              850          437         
            Norway                   850          n/a         
            Peoples Republic of      938          437, 850    
              China                                           
            Poland                   852          850         
            Portugal                 850          860         
            Spain                    850          437         
            Sweden                   850          437         
            Switzerland (French)     850          437         
            Switzerland (German)     850          437         
            Taiwan                   437          850         
            Turkey                   857          850         
            United Kingdom           437          850         
            United States            437          850         
            Yugoslavia               852          850         
        
        DEVINFO=KBD,US,C:\OS2\KEYBOARD.DCP
        
          Tells the keyboard which international character set to use and where to find the file 
          KEYBOARD.DCP which translates keystrokes.  The syntax is DEVINFO=KBD,cc,DRIVE,PATH,FILE-
          NAME.  The parameter cc equals the character set to be used, e.g. US = United States.  
          See table below for character set codes.
        
            LANGUAGE                   COUNTRY CODE    
            Arabic                     AR              
            Belgian                    BE              
            Canadian French            CF              
            Czech/Czech                CS243           
            Czech/Slovak               CS245           
            Danish                     DK              
            Dutch                      NL              
            Finnish                    SU              
            French                     FR              
            German                     GR              
            Hebrew                     HE              
            Hungarian                  HU              
            Icelandic                  IS              
            Italian                    IT              
            Latin American             LA              
            Norwegian                  NO              
            Polish                     PL              
            Portuguese                 PO              
            Spanish                    SP              
            Swedish                    SV              
            Swiss (French)             SF              
            Swiss (German)             SG              
            Turkish                    TR              
            United Kingdom             UK              
            United States              US              
            Yugoslavian                YU              
        
        DEVICE=C:\OS2\VDISK.SYS 512
        
          As in DOS, this driver installs a RAM disk.  In this example, the RAM disk is 512k with 
          the sectors and directories parameters set at the default level (64-byte sectors and 64 
          directory entries).  With DOS, a RAM disk could significantly improve system perfor-
          macne, but because OS/2 handles your memory far more efficently than DOS and has its own 
          sophisticated caching routines, using a RAM disk is not recommended.  
        
          <<=CAUTION=>>  Because a RAM disk takes available memory away from OS/2, you may nega-
          tively impact system performance on systems with less than 12MB of RAM.  Unless you have 
          lots of RAM or have a very specific need, don't install a RAM disk.
        
          <<=NOTE=>>  If you do install VDISK.SYS and you also have EXTDSKDD.SYS installed, 
          VDISK.SYS much be placed after EXTDSKDD.SYS in your CONFIG.SYS file.  Check your online 
          Command Reference for information on EXTDSKDD.SYS.
        
        ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
        END OF CONFIG.SYS FILE DESCRIPTION
        
        
        ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
        4.  Obscure CONFIG.SYS settings.
        ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
        What follows are some very obscure CONFIG.SYS file settings.  They are here only for informa-
        tional purposes.  Unless you have a very specific need and know what you're doing, please don't 
        experiment with these.
        
        SET SHELLEXCEPTIONHANDLER=OFF
        
          The WpS has its own exception handling routines which allows it to recover from most 
          errors.  You can turn this "exception handling" with this command.  Could be useful when 
          debugging an object.
        
        SET OBJECTSNOOZETIME=45
        
          Useful when programming certain types of object DDLs.
        
        TIMESLICE=128,256
        
          This command allows you to manually control the minimum and maximum amount of processor 
          time any thread can receive at once.  The syntax is TIMESLICE=x,y where x is the minimum 
          time slice (in millisecond and must be at least 32) and where y is the maximum length 
          (must be less than 65536).
        
          <<=TIP=>>  It is best not to attempt to manually set TIMESLICE since OS/2 dynamically 
          handles this process far better than most of us can.
        
        TRACE=ON
        
          Helpful for System Administrators and programmers.  Assists in the tracking of system 
          problems by turning TRACE on (or off) and establishing a buffer (4k is default.  You can 
          increase this using the command TRACEBUF) to store tracing data.  You can also start 
          TRACE from an OS/2 command prompt.
        
        ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
        5.  Sample CONFIG.SYS files.
        ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
        
        FILE FOR CLONE WITH 8MB OF RAM AND VGA RUNNING ONLY HPFS
        --------------------------------------------------------
        CALL=C:\OS2\XCOPY.EXE C:\OS2\*.BK1 C:\OS2\*.BK2
        CALL=C:\OS2\XCOPY.EXE C:\OS2\*.INI C:\OS2\*.BK1
        IFS=C:\OS2\HPFS.IFS  /CACHE:512 /CRECL:4 /AUTOCHECK:C
        PROTSHELL=C:\OS2\PMSHELL.EXE
        SET USER_INI=C:\OS2\OS2.INI
        SET SYSTEM_INI=C:\OS2\OS2SYS.INI
        SET OS2_SHELL=C:\OS2\CMD.EXE
        SET AUTOSTART=PROGRAMS,TASKLIST,FOLDERS
        SET RUNWORKPLACE=C:\OS2\PMSHELL.EXE
        SET RESTARTOBJECTS=YES
        SET COMSPEC=C:\OS2\CMD.EXE
        LIBPATH=.;C:\OS2\DLL;C:\OS2\MDOS;C:\;C:\OS2\APPS\DLL;
        SET PATH=C:\OS2;C:\OS2\SYSTEM;C:\OS2\MDOS\WINOS2;C:\OS2\INSTALL;C:\;C:\OS2\MDOS;
              C:\OS2\APPS;
        SET DPATH=C:\OS2;C:\OS2\SYSTEM;C:\OS2\MDOS\WINOS2;C:\OS2\INSTALL;C:\;C:\OS2\BITMAP;
              C:\OS2\MDOS;C:\OS2\APPS;
        SET PROMPT=$E[1;33m[$p]$g
        SET HELP=C:\OS2\HELP;C:\OS2\HELP\TUTORIAL;
        SET GLOSSARY=C:\OS2\HELP\GLOSS;
        SET DIRCMD=/O /P
        SET IPF_KEYS=SBCS                        (New with version 2.1)
        PRIORITY_DISK_IO=YES
        FILES=20
        DEVICE=C:\OS2\TESTCFG.SYS
        DEVICE=C:\OS2\DOS.SYS
        DEVICE=C:\OS2\PMDD.SYS
        BUFFERS=50
        IOPL=YES
        REM * DISKCACHE=256,LW,32,AC:C
        MAXWAIT=2
        MEMMAN=SWAP,PROTECT
        SWAPPATH=C:\OS2\SYSTEM 512 4096
        BREAK=OFF
        THREADS=256
        PRINTMONBUFSIZE=402,0,0
        COUNTRY=001,C:\OS2\SYSTEM\COUNTRY.SYS
        SET KEYS=OFF
        REM * SET DELDIR=C:\DELETE,512;
        BASEDEV=PRINT01.SYS
        BASEDEV=IBM1FLPY.ADD
        BASEDEV=IBM1S506.ADD
        BASEDEV=OS2DASD.DMD
        SET BOOKSHELF=C:\OS2\BOOK
        SET EPMPATH=C:\OS2\APPS
        REM * DEVICE=C:\OS2\APPS\SASYNCDA.SYS 
        PROTECTONLY=NO
        SHELL=C:\OS2\MDOS\COMMAND.COM C:\OS2\MDOS /P
        FCBS=16,8
        RMSIZE=640
        DEVICE=C:\OS2\MDOS\VEMM.SYS 
        DEVICE=C:\OS2\MDOS\VMOUSE.SYS 
        DOS=LOW,NOUMB
        DEVICE=C:\OS2\MDOS\VDPX.SYS 
        DEVICE=C:\OS2\MDOS\VXMS.SYS /UMB
        DEVICE=C:\OS2\MDOS\VDPMI.SYS 
        DEVICE=C:\OS2\MDOS\VWIN.SYS
        REM * DEVICE=C:\OS2\PCMCIA.SYS           (New with version 2.1)
        REM * DEVICE=C:\OS2\MDOS\VPCMCIA.SYS     (New with version 2.1)
        REM * DEVICE=C:\OS2\MDOS\VCDROM.SYS 
        DEVINFO=SCR,VGA,C:\OS2\VIOTBL.DCP
        SET VIDEO_DEVICES=VIO_VGA
        SET VIO_VGA=DEVICE(BVHVGA)
        DEVICE=C:\OS2\MDOS\VVGA.SYS
        DEVICE=C:\OS2\POINTDD.SYS 
        DEVICE=C:\OS2\MOUSE.SYS SERIAL=COM1 
        DEVICE=C:\OS2\COM.SYS 
        DEVICE=C:\OS2\MDOS\VCOM.SYS  
        CODEPAGE=437,850
        DEVINFO=KBD,US,C:\OS2\KEYBOARD.DCP
        
        FOR CLONE WITH 8MB RAM AND VGA RUNNING ONLY FAT
        -----------------------------------------------
        Make the following two changes in the CONFIG.SYS listing above.
        
             o  REM this line:  IFS=C:\OS2\HPFS.IFS  /CACHE:512 /CRECL:4 /AUTOCHECK:C
        
             o  Remove the REM from this line:  REM DISKCACHE=256,LW
        
        
        FOR CLONE WITH 8MB RAM AND VGA RUNNING BOTH FAT AND HPFS
        --------------------------------------------------------
        Make the following change in the CONFIG.SYS listing above.
        
             o  Remove the REM from this line:  REM DISKCACHE=256,LW
        
        FOR CLONE WITH 4 OR 6MB OF RAM AND VGA RUNNING FAT
        --------------------------------------------------
        CALL=C:\OS2\XCOPY.EXE C:\OS2\*.BK1 C:\OS2\*.BK2
        CALL=C:\OS2\XCOPY.EXE C:\OS2\*.INI C:\OS2\*.BK1
        REM * IFS=C:\OS2\HPFS.IFS  /CACHE:512 /CRECL:4 /AUTOCHECK:C
        PROTSHELL=C:\OS2\PMSHELL.EXE
        SET USER_INI=C:\OS2\OS2.INI
        SET SYSTEM_INI=C:\OS2\OS2SYS.INI
        SET OS2_SHELL=C:\OS2\CMD.EXE
        SET AUTOSTART=PROGRAMS,TASKLIST,FOLDERS
        SET RUNWORKPLACE=C:\OS2\PMSHELL.EXE
        SET RESTARTOBJECTS=YES
        SET COMSPEC=C:\OS2\CMD.EXE
        LIBPATH=.;C:\OS2\DLL;C:\OS2\MDOS;C:\;C:\OS2\APPS\DLL;
        SET PATH=C:\OS2;C:\OS2\SYSTEM;C:\OS2\MDOS\WINOS2;C:\OS2\INSTALL;C:\;C:\OS2\MDOS;
              C:\OS2\APPS;
        SET DPATH=C:\OS2;C:\OS2\SYSTEM;C:\OS2\MDOS\WINOS2;C:\OS2\INSTALL;C:\;C:\OS2\BITMAP;
              C:\OS2\MDOS;C:\OS2\APPS;
        SET PROMPT=$E[1;33m[$p]$g
        SET HELP=C:\OS2\HELP;C:\OS2\HELP\TUTORIAL;
        SET GLOSSARY=C:\OS2\HELP\GLOSS;
        SET DIRCMD=/O /P
        SET IPF_KEYS=SBCS                        (New with version 2.1)
        PRIORITY_DISK_IO=YES
        FILES=20
        DEVICE=C:\OS2\TESTCFG.SYS
        DEVICE=C:\OS2\DOS.SYS
        DEVICE=C:\OS2\PMDD.SYS
        BUFFERS=20
        IOPL=YES
        DISKCACHE=64,LW,12,AC:C
        MAXWAIT=2
        MEMMAN=SWAP,PROTECT
        SWAPPATH=C:\OS2\SYSTEM 512 6144
        BREAK=OFF
        THREADS=128
        PRINTMONBUFSIZE=134,0,0
        COUNTRY=001,C:\OS2\SYSTEM\COUNTRY.SYS
        SET KEYS=OFF
        REM * SET DELDIR=C:\DELETE,512;
        BASEDEV=PRINT01.SYS
        BASEDEV=IBM1FLPY.ADD
        BASEDEV=IBM1S506.ADD
        BASEDEV=OS2DASD.DMD
        SET BOOKSHELF=C:\OS2\BOOK
        SET EPMPATH=C:\OS2\APPS
        REM * DEVICE=C:\OS2\APPS\SASYNCDA.SYS 
        PROTECTONLY=NO
        SHELL=C:\OS2\MDOS\COMMAND.COM C:\OS2\MDOS /P
        FCBS=16,8
        RMSIZE=512
        DEVICE=C:\OS2\MDOS\VEMM.SYS 
        DEVICE=C:\OS2\MDOS\VMOUSE.SYS 
        DOS=LOW,NOUMB
        DEVICE=C:\OS2\MDOS\VDPX.SYS 
        DEVICE=C:\OS2\MDOS\VXMS.SYS /UMB
        DEVICE=C:\OS2\MDOS\VDPMI.SYS 
        DEVICE=C:\OS2\MDOS\VWIN.SYS
        REM * DEVICE=C:\OS2\PCMCIA.SYS           (New with version 2.1) 
        REM * DEVICE=C:\OS2\MDOS\VPCMCIA.SYS     (New with version 2.1)
        REM * DEVICE=C:\OS2\MDOS\VCDROM.SYS 
        DEVINFO=SCR,VGA,C:\OS2\VIOTBL.DCP
        SET VIDEO_DEVICES=VIO_VGA
        SET VIO_VGA=DEVICE(BVHVGA)
        DEVICE=C:\OS2\MDOS\VVGA.SYS
        DEVICE=C:\OS2\POINTDD.SYS 
        DEVICE=C:\OS2\MOUSE.SYS SERIAL=COM1 
        DEVICE=C:\OS2\COM.SYS 
        DEVICE=C:\OS2\MDOS\VCOM.SYS  
        CODEPAGE=437,850
        DEVINFO=KBD,US,C:\OS2\KEYBOARD.DCP
        
        ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
        6.  HOW TO RESTORE A DAMAGED CONFIG.SYS FILE FROM A BACKUP COPY
        ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
        
        1.  Boot OS/2 from the OS/2 Installation Disk.
        
        2.  Insert OS/2 Disk #1 when asked.
        
        3.  Press the ESC key when you get the first text screen.  By doing this you will be put into 
            OS/2s command-line mode.
        
        4.  Assuming that your backup copy of CONFIG.SYS is named CONFIG.SAV, enter the following com-
            mand:
        
            COPY C:\CONFIG.SAV C:\CONFIG.SYS
        
            Press the ENTER key.
        
        5.  Remove OS/2 Disk #1 and reboot system.
        
        What if you didn't make a backup copy?  IBM thought about you.  When OS/2 was first installed 
        on your system, the installation program made a backup copy of your original CONFIG.SYS file.  
        It stored this file in C:\OS2\INSTALL.  To restore from this file follow the same steps above, 
        EXCEPT, in step #4 enter the following command instead of the one shown:
        
            COPY C:\OS2\INSTALL\CONFIG.SYS C:\CONFIG.SYS
        
        <<=TIP=>>  Replace the CONFIG.SYS file saved by the OS/2 installation program in the INSTALL 
        directory with your most current version, thus allowing you to restore from it.
        
        ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

        7.  REXX SUPPORT FROM WITHIN THE CONFIG.SYS FILE.
        ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
        The question of whether REXX programs can be called from within the CONFIG.SYS file has been 
        asked by a number of people.  Keith Medcalf's response to the question is one of the best I've 
        seen.
        
          ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
            Date: 07-30-93, 08:06                  Number: 483                         
            From: Keith Medcalf                     Refer: 477                         
              To: Russ Williams                     Recvd: No                          
            Subj: REXX from CONFIG.SYS               Conf: Ibm.Os2se                   
          ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
          Wednesday July 28 1993 16:34, Russ Williams wrote to All:
        
           RW> Can anyone tell me what restrictions there are on running REXX
           RW> programs from CONFIG.SYS (via "CALL=")?  It doesn't work for me, and
           RW> the online help is no help.
        
          You cannot.  The DLLs required to support Rexx are not loaded until Presentation Manager 
          is loaded.  If you require Rexx support earlier, look for a progrm call SRVREXX at a 
          fine BBS near you.
        
          Adding the line RUN=SRVREXX.EXE to the config.sys will immediately initialize Rexx.  You 
          will then be able to access Rexx with or without PM being loaded.
        
        ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
        END OF FILE
